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Man, have you heard of this latest EA fiasco? Let’s see if you can point out the number of ways EA screwed the pooch on this one.

1: Origin users, by filling out a survey, were promised a $20 coupon to spend on whatever game of their choosing that cost $19.99 or more.

2: The coupon was open-ended, so you could continue to buy games after its intended one-time use.

3: The coupon was global, so anyone could use it.

4: Then Reddit found out. Let that one sink in for a moment. For those of you that don’t know the Reddit community, the word “wildfire” comes to mind.

5: EA found out, and completely shut down all coupons. Including those that were given to legitimate players with no intention of ripping EA off.

6: Other players, who had filled out the survey legitimately, were stiffed on the coupons.

7: EA then said that they will honor all the “stolen” games over the weekend. Thus implying that people who filled out surveys after the lock-down are not getting coupons, but people who looted the store with their Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Golden Ticket get to keep their purchases of questionable legality.

Allow me to put this into perspective for those who don’t seem to get it.

A service was rendered, here. The agreement was that we take a survey and the payment would be $20 off of one game purchase of $19.99 or more, with some restrictions. That was a fair deal, as many people agree.

The code offered was a universal code, one that could be obtained without completing the survey, and used multiple times. This is the fault of EA who obviously does not understand the internet at all.

Upon realizing their mistake, EA immediately broke the code so no one else could abuse it, but they left the survey up. While the survey was still offering the $20 coupon as payment, EA was not. As such, they are now getting free information by offering a bogus payment. This is known as scamming people.

When confronted on this issue, EA has chosen to respond by honoring the purchases of those who abused the system and not the coupons obtained by those wanting to use it properly after the fact. They have rewarded the abusers and punished their customers.

Believe me, for some of these people, it is no idle threat to take this to court. The e-mail clearly states that there is a payment offered for completing the survey, a payment that has yet to be given to those of us completing it on the second day and after. $20 is not the only thing at stake here. That is merely payment for services rendered. There is also the ability to have them pay the court costs and to force them to offer compensation to those who did work for them and have yet to receive their payment.

If a payment is not given in some fashion to the amount of $20 to spend on an item of our choice, then this survey is a scam, something not tolerated by the BBB or the internet at large. EA is in for a world of hurt if it doesn’t get its act together. While I, personally, will not be doing anything, I know how the internet works.

First, the gripe. The game is stellar, and was made by Arkane Studios, not Bethesda. Can we please stop referring to it as Bethesda’s latest entry for god’s sake! Give the hardworking developers some credit! Bethesda should be credit with publishing the game!

Second, I love, love, love the lore they have build around Dishonored. And Penny Arcade, as usual, nails the humor within.

“Stop Corvo! You cannot fight us! You have been putting points into stealth abilities, remember?!”

Something about games that tout choice as a major selling point, like Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Akrane’s Dishonored bothers me. This is not to say they are bad games. If anything they are both phenomenal titles, crafted with meticulous attention to detail, amazing art, stellar voice-acting and set in a poignant, believable world. Yet there is something very wrong with them. And it was not until last night, while playing Dishonored, that I realized what it was.

These games tell you of the variety of ways that you can go about accomplishing an objective. For example, in Dishonored, you can use your abilities, for stealthy stalking or engage in gratuitous violence. It claims that you can choose either path at will, but the fact of the matter is that there is always a dearth of currency (runes in the case of Dishonored), that forces you to take only one path. Once you invest some points into stealth, you will invest almost every subsequent point into stealth in an attempt to continue bolstering your abilities in that play-style. Eventually, the only way you can experience another type of build is by replaying the entire game. This is part of the reason games like Fallout 3, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Dishonored have so many replays. Once you start going down an ability path, there is very little wiggle room.

Again, this may not be a bad thing for people who think it gives the game “replay value”. I personally think it gives it an inflated replay value, but true replay value remains the domain of dynamic multiplayer games like StarCraft 2 and League of Legends.

Of Orcs and Men is a story about betrayal and redemption, it is a story about desperate times, last stands, and acts of selfless valor. It is a story about two unlikely antiheroes, driven together by equal parts of vengeance, greed and fate. It is a story about facing your inner demons, embracing your flaws, and accepting your limitations. Of Orcs and Men, put simply, is one of the most engrossing RPG stories every told. I just wish they had spent some more time polishing it.

In many ways, it reminds me of the first iteration of Assassin’s Creed. It was repetitive, buggy, and it could have used polish on a lot of levels. However, they improved the formula and the next iterations only got better and better. I love the world they come up with in Of Orcs and Men, and I sincerely hope this review is taken as constructive criticism, that there is a next iteration, and that is significantly improved via all the feedback.

When you start a title, do you have an urge to finish it? I do. It doesn’t matter if halfway through the game I realize it is awful, and I am not even having fun. But I must finish it, obsessively, just to make sure I got to the end, and checked it off of my list. Am I crazy? Or do most of you do that as well?!